Hindi

Hindi is the name given to an Indo-Aryan language, or a dialect continuum of languages, spoken in northern and central India (the "Hindi belt").

The native speakers of Hindi dialects between them account for 40% of the Indian population (1991 Indian census). Standard Hindi is one of the 22 official languages of India, and is used, along with English, for administration of the central government. Standard Hindi is a sanskritised register derived from the khari boli dialect. Urdu is a different, persianised, register of the same dialect. Taken together, these registers are historically also known as Hindustani.